


Subtle

by heroiccaptain



Category: Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV), Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Married Life, POV John Watson, Victorian Sherlock Holmes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26991115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroiccaptain/pseuds/heroiccaptain
Summary: Sherlock comes to the conclusion he and his husband need new covers. Watson, as usual, is far from realising the whole truth behind Holmes' subtle intentions.
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	Subtle

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first johnlock fic!   
> I imagine David Burke as Watson and Jeremy Brett as Holmes.

“Watson?”

“Yes, Holmes?”, I closed my book, devoting all my attention to him.

“I’ve come to the conclusion we need new covers”, he said casually.

“New covers? The ones we have are in a good state”

“Do you want to know why, my dear?”. An excited Sherlock Holmes looked at me, eager to hear the positive response he knew he had, ever since before we got happily married two nights ago. 

Unofficially married, that is. Victorian London is still filled with homosexuals enjoying turkish baths and living happily ever after with one another in secrecy. We exchanged our vows at Westminster Chapel discreetly, as they were about to close, and celebrated the meaning of it with a dinner Mrs. Hudson had left for us and well, some delicious dessert in Holmes bedroom. 

That night I told him having cake in bed wasn’t very polite of me, but as he argued successfully, so wasn’t marrying him, which made me chuckle and not resist the urge of kissing him. Of loving him as I wished to do for so very long. 

As a case came up yesterday’s morning, we didn’t have the chance yet to properly discuss the details of our married life. 

_ Sure, every night I could go to his bedroom and he could come to mine _ , I thought, presuming the same was going through his head.  _ We would think of something, eventually. Something that involves us having the right to lay beside one another, not in each other’s beds, but in our bed... _

“Well, yes, Holmes”, I managed to return my attention to the matter. “If it wouldn’t be a sacrifice”, I offered as I wasn’t curious enough to know the reason, but I’ve always known which cards to play. Only with him, of course. Cards and gambles were far from my area of expertise. 

“A lovely sacrifice, anyway. Well, you see Watson, it all comes down to the fibers of our covers” 

“Fibers?”, I blinked twice. 

“Yes, dear. Let me enlighten you”, he closed his eyes. 

He spent half an hour telling me about the variety of fibers, how they were mixed to form adequate covers and how after our first night as lovers he examined the blankets covering my body and noticed it contained a substance, one seemingly inofensive, however with time it could cause injury to our skin. I asked why he hadn’t noticed that before and without skipping a beat, he explained he didn’t pay much attention to bedtime, until I was on his bed. It was odd, really, I’ve never heard of such substance or skin injuries. It was something new, he enlightened me, and since I had spent years away from the medical academy, I couldn’t argue. He went on and on until he reached the conclusion.

“Therefore, we must get new covers. Our health is at stake!”, he got up abruptly, as usual, to add his dramatic tone. 

“Fine, Holmes. Tomorrow morning I’ll-”

“No, Watson! Didn’t you hear me?! Our health is at stake!”, he kneeled next to my chair, his profound eyes staring at mine. “My dear”, his voice was lower, more intimate. “We must resolve the matter this afternoon still. I’ll not be able to sleep thinking about those fibers touching your skin, endangering my good doctor, my companion…”, he leaned closer, smiling lightly, “...my husband”. 

I closed the gap between us. A quick brush of lips, the only type of kiss we could have at broad daylight. “Alright, Holmes. Let me grab my hat and-” 

He stood up quickly once more. “I’ll grab it for you!” 

Odd. But what wasn’t odd in my life with him? Odd had actually become a synonym of enchanting since I met him. Why should I bother? 

So I left Baker Street that afternoon, sure of the frustrating fact I’d miss tea time, but my heart did not have a choice. If Holmes was that preoccupied about the toxicity of fibers, it was my duty and pleasure to ease his mind. Of course, he had added his usual layer of drama. It was not like we were in the middle of the bloody plague! 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Excuse me, could you show me-” 

“I do not want new pillows. No, no. Just the blankets. Yes. No, my wife doesn’t like that. He-,hum, she, she is not like most women. Yes, I’m sure. I know...her, well. Thank you” 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[...] 

“Ah! Are these the new covers?!”, he greeted me panting, as he came from upstairs. 

“Yes, dear. Hum, you should have seen Oxford Street! At this time of the year, so many people yelling at the stores and-”

“Ah! Irrelevant, Watson. You faced an afternoon of boring commercial socialising. I know, dear, but all for a good cause...”, his eyes shined bright.

In all honesty, for that view I would have faced many crowded stores. To see a happy Holmes. My happy husband. 

“...As you’ll see tonight”, he told me later that was what he murmured as I was on my way to the kitchen. At that point, I was unaware of what the matter was really about, faithfully thinking I knew it all. 

It has happened often lately, creating a very annoying reputation for myself, I should say. 

“Don’t go upstairs just yet, Watson, come join me. I have stories to tell you, I believe you’ll find them quite interesting” 

“If they don’t involve fibers, hopefully I will…” 

At dinner, we finished our soup and as I was still having my tea and two pieces of bread, I watched him sit by the fire, observing every inch of that lean figure of his. He seemed oddly patient, waiting for me to sit on my chair and excitedly listen to him explain how he solved the case we were presented yesterday’s morning, as I did gladly. 

No matter how much time we’ve spent together, it hasn’t been enough. I was and still am eager to listen to his deductions. To be the one to witness the ability of his brain and the only one to know the intricacies of his heart. 

“It’s a cold night, isn’t it, Watson?” 

“Yes, Holmes. It was already a cold afternoon when I left to buy the blankets. I should have taken my gloves, but in that hurry…” 

He stared at me, smiling fondly. 

“Yes?” 

“You know, Watson, I enjoy your rambles” 

“By rambles you mean half of what I say?”

“Quite. I enjoy them dearly”, he grinned. 

“Hum. Good for you, I think. You’ll have to endure it” 

“Indeed. I’m planning on enduring it. From the moment we wake up until the moment we sleep. Except on the nights I don’t sleep, obviously” 

“Wherever we sleep, then? My bedroom or yours?”, I suggested. 

“Very interesting question, my dear. I’m glad you’re my husband”, he said it a bit louder than earlier, the night allowing us to feel free to be ourselves fully. “Why don’t we go upstairs and decide on it there?” 

“Using logic?”

“What else could matter?”, he joked. The logical machine, the brilliant Holmes, the mechanic brain...it had always been a joke between us. Yes, he was brilliant. He was also a human being, one quite devoted to me, so he whispered it in my ear, back in Westminster.

As we got upstairs, I walked until my bedroom door in advance. “Let me just grab my watch, Holmes, it will be useful for-”

“It’s not there”, he stated seriously. 

I turned to face him. “Yes, it is. I left it this morning” 

“It’s not there”, he repeated, as if it was supposed to mean something. 

“I-, how would you-. I’m tired. Just tell me my watch didn’t vanish into thin air, please” 

“Of course it didn’t, Watson. It’s in  _ our bedroom _ ”

“Fine, where?”

I stopped half a second later. 

Then, I stared at him, my brain finally processing the words. 

_ Our  _ bedroom. 

_ Our _ . 

“What?” 

He smiled fondly once more, his eyes shining in the dark corridor of our house. “Come, my dear. Let me show you the way” 

Arm in arm with me, he opened the door of what used to be his bedroom with a light kick. 

Holmes’ single bed, one that barely fitted the both of us before, seemed to have vanished into thin air. The room, illuminated only by candlelight now had a large bed, where the blankets I bought earlier were placed on, and two nightstands, one by each side. Mine had been removed from my old bedroom and was standing there right in front of my eyes, my watch placed on top, like some sort of magic. Holmesian magic, which made me smile. Which made me feel relieved. 

“Holmes!!!”, I exclaimed. Feeling warm as I was, I could only react by saying his name, acknowledging the reality of my happiness. 

“It was the most logical thing to do, really”, he said proud of himself. “Unofficially or not, it’s official for the both of us, which is what truly matters. So I bought a new bed. A bed to fit the needs of a married couple” 

“So many needs, Holmes”, I gave him a kiss on the cheek, still unable to stop beaming.

We walked in without hesitation. I grabbed his hand gently and we both laid down together for the first time in our bed. Our own married couple bed. 

As I took a deep breath of profound relief, I looked at him. His eyes were closed, his facial expression so light, a smile forming on the corner of his lips. It made my heart warmer than it already was. And then, doubts came to my mind. 

“So that explanation about fibers? Toxic substance?”, I inquired, leaning closer to him as he opened his eyes. 

“A mere distraction. Very well planned. Of course Oxford Street would be crowded, it’s the holiday season. I needed to assure you would be out all afternoon”, he said it with a smug. 

“But did it have to involve half an hour of fibers categories, Holmes?” 

He laughed loudly as he grabbed my arm. “Ah Watson, only you could pay so much attention to the rubbish I was telling you”. 

“Hum, that’s for sure”

His fingers ran gently through my cheek. “My husband. My lovely and loyal husband”. 

“Yours. All yours”. I kissed his wrist, yearning to touch him, to fill him with tender kisses once more, a thousand times more. 

Confusion hit me once again, as I placed another kiss on his arm. “But how exactly did you manage to bring a large bed into this room?”

“That, my dear fellow, is elementary”, his words were followed by a kiss on my lips. A delightful response, really. 

I was about to kiss him back, but then was struck with confusion for the third time. I do understand the reputation, after all. 

“There’s still one thing I don’t understand. Why blankets, Holmes? Our old and inofensive ones were very adequate”

“Oh, Watson. We may not be an ordinary married couple, but  _ we are _ a married couple. We deserved new blankets, didn’t we? Besides, I’m most eager to achieve my desire of cuddling with my husband, under brand new covers”

“Ah, Holmes...What would the readers say if they knew you were not only an old-fashioned man but a romantic one?”

“I only care about the writer”, he kissed my hands, quite tenderly. 

“Is that so?” 

“Haven’t you noticed?”, he said excitedly. “Can’t you deduct my feelings, after all you’ve learned, Doctor Watson? Is the expression of this feeling I have, of this forsaken word which I haven’t pronounced that subtle to you?”, he said it as softly and thrillingly as he could, as precise as he was. 

“Not subtle at all, Holmes. It’s very clear to me. I’ve heard it in your silence, I’ve felt it in your touches”.

I placed my hand on his chest, feeling his fast heartbeat. 

“It’s there”. 

I placed my other hand on mine. 

“And it’s here”. 

Grinning, he kissed me passionately. As I kissed him back, I could feel two tears rolling down his cheeks. 

Holmes was happy. So was I. 

I kissed his forehead gently as we adjusted our bodies under the brand new covers, which were indeed very adequate for a newly wed couple. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you!


End file.
